NATO holds Georgia war games

By Matt Robinson and Margarita Antidze

TBILISI (Reuters) - NATO began military exercises in Georgia on Wednesday in a move that Russia said threatened stability in the region, just nine months after a war between the former Soviet neighbours.

A brief, bloodless mutiny at a tank base near Tbilisi on Tuesday cast a shadow over the start of the month-long exercises. Georgia accused Russia of involvement, a charge Moscow dismissed as "insane."

More than 1,000 soldiers from NATO countries, including the United States, will run through a simulated crisis response operation and peacekeeping exercises at a Georgian military base formerly used by the Russian air force.

Canadian soldiers were seen setting up command headquarters before field exercises get under way next week.

Russia has criticised the NATO exercises on its southern flank as "muscle-flexing" and says they could further undermine ties with the alliance.

Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said on Tuesday the alliance would be better off holding the manoeuvres "in a madhouse" than in a country where troops were "rioting against their own president."

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's domestic opponents have paralysed Tbilisi with weeks of protests demanding he resign over his record on democracy and last year's war.

On Wednesday evening, several hundred protesters fought police at the perimeter of Tbilisi's main police station as officers in riot gear massed inside the compound.